


Routine

by neon



Series: Florist & Merc AU [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24885229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neon/pseuds/neon
Summary: Aerith is a florist. Cloud is a mercenary. (AU, Established Relationship)Aerith stepped outside and skipped down the porch steps to reach the motorcycle. She tested the cinches that harnessed her box to the bike, while Cloud was finishing a fluids check."Ready to ride?"
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Series: Florist & Merc AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798867
Comments: 10
Kudos: 50





	Routine

**Author's Note:**

> The initial set-up for this cottagecore AU is:  
> \- Most main events in canon never happened, or never involved Cloud or Aerith.  
> \- Aerith is still a Cetra, but no one ever discovers that exact fact, including her.  
> \- Cloud and Aerith live in the same house as Aerith's in FF7R, but it's not in Sector 5.  
> \- Cloud and Aerith are in a relationship.  
> \- Aerith is a florist.  
> \- Cloud is a mercenary.

Aerith stepped outside and skipped down the porch steps to reach the motorcycle. She tested the cinches that harnessed her box to the bike, while Cloud was finishing a fluids check.

"Ready to ride?" Aerith asked. Cloud gazed up at her. He was wearing loose cargo pants and an old leather jacket over his shirt, black on black on black in contrast to his light hair and eyes.

"Looks good. You?"

To answer, Aerith took the second set of goggles hanging on the handlebars for her and snapped them on. "I don’t know. How _do_ I look?" she teased.

She was wearing a pair of old faded jeans herself, with a white tank top and pink short-sleeved button-up tucked into the top of them. She felt her skin pleasantly warm under the quiet sweep of Cloud's eyes. She knew he loved it when she wore jeans. She so rarely did except for riding.

"Like a safety hazard," he replied.

Flirt.

"Just keep your eyes on the road, mister."

"Yes, ma’am." Her body warmed again.

She settled behind him, knees braced against the bike, arms wrapped around his trim torso with the sides of his jacket brushing her skin. She rested her forehead on the wide of his back, breathing him in to ground herself.

Then they pealed out, on a course toward town.

Flower fields gave way to dirt roads, then country houses and storied apartments closer toward the market district. Cloud collected on one of his debts as a mercenary right away, earning free parking in a rare secluded lot conveniently near the market center.

Cloud untethered the box from his bike, lifting it by a handy red strap attached lengthwise to it. But Aerith tugged it from him, slinging it over her own shoulder that she raised in a shrug, _Something wrong?_ She pulled out the folding display she had stored, instead of one of Cloud’s many swords, in the bike’s wing compartment, too. Cloud waved a hand, _Suit yourself_ , and led the way into town, his own empty drawstring bag draped over his shoulder.

First stop was the "message board", a man actually, named Alder.

"Cloud, son! And Miss Aerith. Always a pleasure." Alder sat at his regular stoop, his hands clapped atop his spread knees. He would often catch that elusive conversation starter with Cloud by bemoaning the time spent living in Midgar, and how much neither of them missed it. _Shithole_ , Cloud would succinctly say, to an enthusiastic nod. He was a grizzled, older man, his many scars always making Aerith feel a touch of sadness.

"Hello!" Aerith set her load down before stretching. Her bracelets slid down and caught around her elbows with her arms up in the air.

"Now what kind of gentleman makes his lady carry that herself?"

"Like to see you try and wrangle it from her," Cloud mumbled. Aerith giggled, poking her tongue between her teeth.

"Speak up, merc! So, you here for business or leisure?"

Cloud snorted. His arms crossed over his chest, his bag held in one hand around the top. "What do you think?"

"Always business with you. You ever think how you’re gonna die, son?"

Cloud and Aerith both blinked wide at him, before blinking at each other. Uttering at the same time, _Uhh…_

"Me," Alder continued, unfazed, "It wasn’t the grashstrike," he pointed at the scar on his jaw, "Or the drake," he pointed at the scar splitting his eyebrow and eyelid, "But someday it might just be you saying you’re here to see me just to see me."

"Well expect a long life, 'cause that’s never gonna happen." Alder roared in laughter. He wiped the tear from his good eye.

"Well, down to business then. I got some real tough ones for someone of your skill. Ringmaws out by-"

"Not interested. What else you got?"

"Well, how about…"

Alder listed a few more that Cloud shook his head at. Finally there was one Cloud considered, where Aerith chimed in, "Ooh, that one sounds tough."

"To you, maybe." _To anyone!_ Aerith protested. Cloud went on, "All right. I’ll take it."

"Good luck, son."

"Don’t need it."

As Cloud gathered the rest of the details, Aerith opened her box and selected a flower, yellow and boisterous. She turned on her toes, holding it out for Alder. "Here," she said.

"Ah, Miss Aerith…" He pinched it delicately as he could between his thick fingers. "Always truly a pleasure." He added, a footnote, _Cloud_.

"See ya, Alder."

Aerith closed her box back up and hefted it across her shoulder once more, allowing Cloud this time to take the folding display at least under Alder’s critical eye. She walked a few steps backward, waving goodbye with both hands free. The last look she had of Alder was him bringing the flower directly to his nose, taking a sweet moment of indulgence to breathe its fragrance.

They moved on next to one of Aerith’s usual spots, this one a sidewalk beside a gated archway that framed a park off the road. It was a small, green area, the perfect backdrop. Lots of passersby.

Cloud unfolded the display stand while Aerith opened her box, lifting and cradling the bouquets carefully wrapped in colorful, crinkly paper. She passed the stacked buckets that went with the display from the bottom of the box to Cloud’s waiting hand, and when he was done attaching them she stood her flowers by bunches in each. She untwisted the cap on a water bottle she brought too, a little of it poured in each bucket to keep the flowers hydrated.

"You good?" Cloud asked when done.

"Almost," Aerith said from where she was folded in half before the display, her knees tucked to her chest. She looked up at Cloud. "Pick one."

"Aerith…"

"C’mon, Cloud." He sighed. He glanced sideways at the many blooms. He chose one, tugging it carefully to not disrupt the overall bouquet it was part of.

Aerith gasped and brought her hands flat together in front of herself, delighted. Cloud eyed her warily. "…What’s this one mean?"

Cloud tucked the stem of the tiger lily into one of his open jacket's empty button holes.

"Wealth," she answered. His surprised expression was _priceless_ , too.

Cloud looked down at the flower. _Huh._ "Why haven't we grown more of these?"

"Oh, Cloud."

He turned away, so she only saw the small curl end of his smile around the side of his face. "All right. I’m off. Meet you there later?"

"Yeah."

Aerith dropped her chin into the cradle of her palms to admire the unfairly elegant cadence of his walk away. "So unfair."

* * *

Aerith sold her last bouquet before noon. A usual day.

She sipped the water left in the bottom of the plastic bottle, then began packing up with room now for the display case to be folded and tucked within her box. She balanced the strap on her shoulder again and set off for the Briar Patch.

The Briar Patch reminded her a lot of the orphanage she had grown up in. A little run-down, a little forgotten, but managing despite that. The place had tears, always, being what it was, but there were less tears than laughter.

Aerith swung open the fence in the front yard, latching it again behind her, and facing the chaos of playful children. An overwhelmed caretaker was wrangling with a group of little ones. Aerith made the decision to head there first.

"Heya."

"Oh, Aerith! Great timing - would you mind lending me a hand?"

"Sure thing." And then Aerith was swept into the wonderful whirlwind of the orphanage.

She emerged outside again, a little more sticker-covered than before, when she felt, knew, Cloud had turned the corner onto the street. He appeared a moment later at the gate. He carried not just his drawstring bag but also a full crate under his arm.

"Cloud!"

She jogged out to meet him. He looked taken aback at her breathlessness, her bright-eyed demeanor, before his expression softened. He grunted as he set the crate down one-armed at Aerith's feet.

All different "payments" for Cloud’s mercenary work, when the clients' gil was dried up - bags of baked goods, music discs, bangles, orbs of materia, and more. He dropped his overstuffed bag too next to the crate, and placed his hands on his hips as he bowed his head to look with Aerith.

Aerith sifted curiously through the assortment of… things. She held up a yellow feather, quirking an eyebrow. _Hm?_

Cloud shifted his weight to one leg, a nervous, for him, change of stance.

"We, uh, own a chocobo," Cloud answered.

Aerith raised both of her eyebrows. "Oh! …Probably could have used the whole chocobo, to carry this stuff."

Cloud snorted. _You’re helping me plant gysahl greens when we get home_ , she informed him, twist-turning the feather between her thumb and finger.

She rose on her toes and balanced the feather delicately on top of Cloud’s hair. He shook his head until it fluttered to his feet. She replaced it in the crate. She knew one of the children would love it. They rummaged through the other items and sorted what to keep and what not to keep. Aerith picked up an orb of materia to relocate to the keep pile - Cloud used them on his jobs - but, cradled it for a second longer in her palm. The swirling green center was mesmerizing.

Materia almost spoke to her, sort of like the flowers. But only in a whisper she couldn’t decipher. Hearing it always made her feel… lonely. Strangely homesick, for a home she’d never known. She stacked the one she held carefully with the others.

The two of them took what they needed, plus a couple of things to sell for income. The rest of Cloud’s haul was for the orphanage. They could never have eaten all the baked goods by themselves, or carried all of the random things home, after all.

The caretakers, and children, were all thrilled. Aerith realized she’d added a little more chaos to their day. But some kinds of chaos were good. Cloud would have disagreed - before he'd met Aerith.

She searched for him, since he’d retreated to lean by the fence, quietest edge of the yard.

"Hey, your flower." She noticed it was missing.

He crooked his chin behind her, and she turned.

A child was waddling across the yard, gleefully leading a group of other young admirers as he was swinging and flaunting the tiger lily in his tiny fist.

Aerith’s eyes squeezed with her growing smile. She walked into Cloud and held him by the waist. _You’re so cool._ He made a questioning noise, but Aerith just shook her head against his collar before turning to rest her cheek in the same spot.

He brushed the top of her head with his hand. She felt the soft touch of a kiss, too, being gently pressed there. _Pretty cool yourself._

* * *

At home they unloaded. Cloud added to his stockpile of materia, while Aerith set her box inside the door. Aerith then pushed a spade in front of Cloud’s face.

He sighed, taking it when she pushed it more in his face.

Aerith led the way behind the house, having an idea for where to plant their new seeds in the garden. They’d had to stop to buy some seeds before leaving, and there was a chocobo waystation closest to the edge of town where the stablehand had given good advice for Aerith too that she had happily absorbed. She knelt in the dirt, and Cloud copied with hands folded on his thighs, sighing but listening as she started giving him instructions. 

_'Kay?_ she finished. Cloud nodded and dug his spade down.

Aerith was distracted by the flex of his forearms as he worked, and pouted when he stopped to blink at her own lack of activity.

The air was already warm when they’d started, and staying under the sun it grew hot. The stream was waiting for them when they were done. Aerith dropped to the edge of a bridge and dipped her toes down into the cool running water.

Cloud cupped some of the water and raised it to the back of his neck, letting it run down and soak his shoulders too. The wetness made his shirt cling.

Aerith started a slow chant.

_Take… it… off!_

The only thing Cloud revealed for her was a mild glower.

She started pumping both of her fists in increasing time with her words. _Take! It! Off!_

Cloud dropped his head back, at first, Aerith thought, from exasperation.

But he laughed.

Not outright laughter - but a smile, and three short chuffs escaping through his nose. Aerith marveled, chant stunned short.

"Cloud," she breathed.

He looked back down at her, eyes wide, grin still halfway on his face. "W-what?" he asked, confused.

His brow was sweat-soaked. There were dirt stains on his knees and front of his shirt, even a dark streak of it on his cheek under his eye. All of it just made him more lovely, in Aerith's opinion.

She sallied next to him, taking one of his hands to hold in her lap.

"You’re perfect."

He studied her, still confused, but gradually passing as he stared at the hand too she’d laid claim on.

"I suck at this," said Cloud, flopping his other wrist where it laid on his knee, limply gesturing to the land around them.

"C’mon, don’t say that! You just gotta work at it."

"Easy for you to say. You make the flowers grow." He shrugged. "Can’t match that."

"You can make them grow, too." He snorted, but she carried on. "They don’t hear only me. They hear everything."

"But they only _listen_ to you. 'Cause they like you best."

"Well, when’s the last time you even talked to them, mister?"

He looked around. He pointed at a particularly sad flower nearby. "Got into a pretty bad argument the other day with that one. That’s why it’s wilting."

Aerith batted his arm. "Ha, ha, Cloud. It just doesn’t like too much sun. We’ll have to replant it closer to the house, where it can get some shade." Cloud hummed in acknowledgement of her expertise.

Aerith swung her legs, sprinkling water droplets from the ends of her toes. She let Cloud take his hand back to hold his own thigh. He stared at the denim folds below her knees. "You should wear jeans more."

She glanced over at him, eyes wide and mouth parting roundly. Then she smiled, her lip bit. "All it takes, huh?" Cloud looked away, shy. He gruffly admitted, _I suppose._

"If I dress like this more you won’t look as much when I do, though."

"I’m always looking at you," Cloud stated.

So sincere. _So_ unfair.

Aerith was, frankly, outdone, by none other than Cloud Strife. Cloud made the most of his upper hand.

He pressed decisively nearer, catching her back. Waited for her to slide her feet up out of the water, to angle and push them both flat to the bridge.

He tugged the ends of her button-up shirt loose from the top of her jeans, and he slid his hands along the arch of her back, wrinkling her tank top. He was looking at her, too. With his incredible, colorfully flecked irises that Aerith so loved.

She stretched to finally catch those lips.

The quietest moan from him met their pressed mouths. He kissed back immediately.

Later, wrapped in bed and around each other, Cloud victoriously shirtless and Aerith "tragically" out of her jeans, she sighed:

"Today was a really good day."

He mumbled, "Same as every other day." His eyes were closed. He was being lethargic. He was gliding his fingers up and down her shoulder.

She raised herself onto her elbows to look down and meet him face-to-face.

"Then every day’s good."

He blinked one eye open, shut it again. Agreed by way of a small, content smile.

**Author's Note:**

> @highfivestrife (nsfw) if you want to witness my obsession with FF7R


End file.
